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Guidelines for the Hiring Process (updated 2014)

Updated by AHA Council, June 2014

In an effort to better serve members of the AHA, and to promote the highest standards of professional conduct in the hiring process, we provide these guidelines for search committees and job candidates

General Criteria

Job discrimination is illegal. Interviewing and hiring should be based solely on professional criteria. Interviewers should not ask questions about a candidate's marital status or family, race or national origin, disability, age, or personal lifestyle. Candidates may, however, volunteer such information in the course of their own inquiries about the hiring institution, although this sort of discussion is usually more appropriate during an on-campus interview than in the preliminary stages of a candidacy.

All positions for historians should be advertised in the job ads section of Perspectives or the AHA website. If hiring institutions intend to interview at the AHA annual meeting, they should make every effort to advertise in the Perspectives issues for the fall months.

Advertisements for positions should contain specific information regarding qualifications and clear indication as to whether a position has actually been authorized or is contingent upon budgetary or other administrative considerations.

Candidates should seek interviews only for those jobs for which they are qualified, and under no circumstances should they misrepresent their training or their qualifications. To do otherwise is unprofessional and wastes the time and energy of everyone concerned.

All applications and inquiries for a position should be acknowledged promptly and courteously (within two weeks of receipt, if possible), and each applicant should be informed as to the initial action on the application or inquiry. No final decision should be made without considering all applications received before the closing date.

At all stages of a search, affirmative action/equal opportunity guidelines should be respected.

As candidates are eliminated, they should be notified promptly and courteously. Some hiring institutions notify all candidates when their search is completed. Unsuccessful candidates may wish to ask how their chances might have been improved. Hiring institutions often respond helpfully to such inquiries but they are not obliged to disclose the reasoning leading to their ultimate choices.

Interviews at the AHA Annual Meeting

Search committees that schedule conference interviews beforehand should provide ample notice to applicants. Ideally, applicants should be notified of a conference interview more than 21 days in advance to allow them to take advantage of less expensive air fares and preregistration rates.

All participants in an interview should be prompt, efficient, and courteous. Job candidates should bring a sufficient supply of CVs and writing implements to the meeting.

Interviews should take place on time, and candidates should be allowed enough time in interviews to develop their candidacies in some depth. This means that interviewers have to watch the time carefully, and try to avoid departing from the schedule they have established. It also means that job candidates should not schedule interviews too close together. Appointments often run over the allotted times.

Interviews should proceed in a manner that respects the professional and personal integrity of candidates and interviewers. Whenever possible, interviewing committees should include male and female representation.

Interviews should take place in a professional setting. The AHA strongly urges institutions interviewing at the AHA annual meeting to use the facilities provided through the Job Center.

The AHA considers it unacceptable to record or videotape any employment interview activity that takes place in conjunction with the annual meeting.

Beginning with the 2000 annual meeting in Chicago, the AHA has made special arrangements with institutions conducting interviews outside of designated Job Center facilities. For more details, please see “Privately Arranged Suite Information” on the Job Center web page.

The AHA discourages holding interviews in hotel bedrooms. If an interviewer thinks it is necessary to use a facility outside the Job Center, the Association strongly advises that a parlor—rather than a sleeping—room be used, and that a third person always be present in the room with the candidate. Interviewers using facilities outside the Job Center bear sole responsibility for establishing an appropriate professional atmosphere and should take special care to ensure that all interviews are conducted courteously and in a proper and professional manner.

If for any reason the interviewers choose not to take advantage of the AHA facilities, they should be specific when making other arrangements. Let the candidates know when, where, and with whom they will be meeting. Provide this information to the Job Center staff, who will then make it available to candidates.